growing kids

We've been really busy lately with all the moving stuff on top of regular busy life so I've been practically absent from the blog. I thought some updated photos of us might be a good idea since I have extra time during the garage sale we are doing today.

Samuel's short short hair cut is growing out. Now it sticks up pretty good and reminds me of Harry Potter. Love it.

Evie turns four today and she's just so much fun. She got her haircut earlier this week so this photo is no longer up to date! She's been enjoying playing with stuffed animals and has quite the pile on her bed that have to sleep with her.

Noah's hair on the other hand is growing out. I like it longer and I don't. For now it's staying. And he's less into the stuffed animals but has a small pile too.

And here's all of us together. Our friend Adam, the Mexico missionary, was here this week to visit, so he took this photo for us.

mops

I've been involved with MOPS ever since we moved to NE in 2007 and on steering since 2008. It was a good addition to my life with kids at home but now that we have three kids and are homeschooling, time is getting a little short. So I'll be done with MOPS after we move. But I sure have enjoyed it.

My kids have enjoyed it too. Every Tuesday they want to know if we can go to MOPS b/c their best friend Katherine (in the white shirt) is there. So many friends we are going to miss!

bottle boy

Silly Samuel has always done things a little different from his older two siblings. He would not sleep on his back - had to be on his belly - and it took forever for him to start on table food. So, in true Samuel style, once I stopped nursing at one year old (February first), he would not take a sippy cup, even though I'd introduced it a couple months earlier. So he'd go all day long with only a couple ounces to drink. Shortly after the transition he got sick with RSV and I gave in and let him have the bottle since he had grown to love the thing. I was not going to fight over it.

But I can now confidently say that he has finally transitioned to a sippy cup, within the last week or so of March. I think he realized he gets a lot more to drink this way. Silly Samuel.

sister bunny visit

My sister and her rabbit came to visit us here in NE for a whopping one day as she traveled to Utah. She moved there mid-March with her husband Steve.

Back in January when we decided we were indeed going to be moving back to Rapid City, I asked Stephanie if they would be moving away anytime soon. She said no even though I knew they would like to move on from Mt Rushmore where she'd worked since she was 14.

But Steve was randomly browsing Craig's list and found a job listing at Zion National Park in southwest Utah. He applied for the two of them and scored new jobs. He immediately put in his two week notice and took off to UT at the beginning of March to find an apartment for them. He found one right away and Steph came down a week or so later. But she graciously stopped here on her "way" - out of her way - for just a short time since she was ready to be reunited with Stevie.

The bunny felt safe under my legs... haha. It had never been outside before so it was nervous.

The bunny is called Hasenpfeffer, which means rabbit stew.

Noah really enjoyed the rabbit. He was so soft. But we enjoyed Stephanie more. Terry and I most definitely need to visit them at Zion because it's simply gorgeous there. Seriously.

ski trip 2012

I missed our youth group's annual ski trip in 2011 since Samuel was just a wee little babe so I'd been really looking forward to it this year - that and it would be our last trip with these students. My parents came down to watch our kiddos so Terry and I could take off for spring break with 3 van loads of kids - 26 students and 5 leaders. We went to Snowy Range Wyoming. And as you can see, the weather was gorgeous.

Thankfully Terry still loves me even though I'm no where as good of a skier as him. It had been two years since I skied and even before that I've only gone a handful of times. If you're gonna learn, when you're young is the time to do it. I'm past my ability to really catch on to it. Terry went in high school quite a few times so he can ski and video at the same time - even down a black or a jump. He's quite good. I fell down when I got off the lift for the first time. For a sporty-ish girl, it is a humbling experience but oh well.

Here's our group preparing to hit the slopes. Terry and I were good examples and wore helmets. Plus we wanted to come home to our kids if we did hit a tree or something (which actually happened to a student on Terry's first trip here!).

Me, Carlie, Brenda and Mallory. Brenda was the other female leader and we were together constantly since we were about the same speed. And I just love that Carlie girl! Mallory was too good for me to keep up with.

This sign was in front of a black diamond Carlie and I accidentally went down. We survived. Though Carlie and Rebecca convinced me to go down another black prior to that and I failed miserably. I side-stepped down half of the steep hill that I just couldn't get the guts to try to go down. And when I did get my courage up I just snow plowed the entire way and avoided the jumps entirely. Hey, I never said I was a good skier! I like to be in control. As I was side-stepping down, I asked Terry if he had lost all respect for me. Thankfully he hadn't.

Here's us after we were finished with two full days of skiing. No accidents this year thankfully! We had a fantastic group too.

We always give "black diamond" awards to all the students. I got one this year as well, "Satisfied on Centennial," meaning that I liked the easiest blue run there was. I don't like the speeding out of control feeling. Brenda presented this award to me and cried while she did it b/c we're buddies and we're moving. She made me and the rest of the girls cry too!

Terry and Brenda saying good bye to the Table in the Wilderness staff. We love this ministry. They take good care of us.

One last group photo before we load up. I'm gonna miss these students so much.